A Friend In Need
by My Old Fics
Summary: When Janeway goes into another one of her depression fits, Chakotay comforts her...


Author's Note:  
J/Cers, don't get your hopes up. This is not, I repeat, not a J/C story.

Reviews:  
Bluehazegrl – I'm sorry, but I intended this to be a stand-alone short story. I don't think I'll ever continue this, as this is just a short piece on their emotions.

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**A Friend In Need**

Chakotay pressed the doorbell and waited patiently outside Janeway's quarters. He knew what that something was bothering the Captain, and he didn't want to add to that, so he chose not to ring her doorbell incessantly. "Kathryn… please answer…" he muttered under his breath, pressing the doorbell again. He was worried about her well-being. It had probably been a minute since he arrived. The passing crewmen were staring at him strangely, and there probably was a reason for them to. Who in their right mind would want to see the Captain in her quarters, especially when she was going through one of her depression fits...?

"Come in," said a croaking voice coming from the quarters. The door slid open, and he entered. He couldn't see her anywhere. For a fleeting second, he thought that she had committed suicide. "Captain…" he started, but he relaxed a bit when he finally noticed her. She was standing there by the window with her hands clasped behind her, staring out into space. Nothingness. "Kathryn." He dropped the formalities. "What happened?" he asked, concern creeping back into his voice.

For a moment, she didn't respond. She just stood there. He wondered if she was hesitating on whether or not she wanted to tell him. Then, her voice quivering, she said, "Chakotay… I'm tired. All these years we've spent, trying to get home… I'm just so damn tired now."

Chakotay stared at her, the misery in her voice sinking in. He swallowed hard. He had had times like this too, when he doubted everything they had believed in. He had gotten over that, not without help. B'Elanna was there to help him through his period of depression. And he would be here to help the Captain through hers, listen to her troubles and comfort her, not as her First Officer but as her friend.

"I don't know what to do…" she continued. "All these years, wasted on what would probably never happen. Maybe our children or our grandchildren would be able to get home, but I – honestly… I don't think we can."

He nodded slightly, encouraging her to go on without saying a word.

"I think we should just find ourselves a nice M-class planet and settle down."

Then something struck him. Even though he had been through this before, he couldn't have done anything drastic. He would have spent the rest of his days cooped up in his quarters, wallowing in his depression, if B'Elanna hadn't been there. Now, Janeway, on the other hand… she was the Captain. She could stop their voyage home any time she liked. Desperation inched its way into his mind.

"No, Kathryn," Chakotay blurted out. "We've made up our minds at the start of all this that we are going to get home, no matter what happens. Hell, even the unthinkable happened! How many times have you seen Maquis and Starfleet crews cooperating? And that happened because we have the same objective… getting back to Earth!" He felt like he was babbling, and he wasn't even sure if his argument made sense, but he had to try.

"Chakotay… I'm tired. The crew –" she started again, holding her head as the beginnings of a headache formed.

"The crew isn't! Go out there and take this issue with anyone of them, even the crewmen scrubbing the plasma conduits.. they'll disagree with you. We're all tired, yes. But we can't give up now. We're tired of being stuck out here. Sure, we get to meet new civilizations we've never seen before unlike the starships back at the Alpha Quadrant, but what we really want is to return home!"

Of course, they could always stage a mutiny against her and take over the ship if she decided to stick with her plan… but that wasn't an appealing thought. He was vaguely aware that he kept using 'we' as if he were representing the entire crew. And he probably was, too. It was very unlikely that any one of them might wish to stay here, except for Neelix.

She remained silent and looked at him, and he could see the bags under her eyes. She obviously wasn't getting enough sleep lately. He wondered if she was thinking too much on her responsibility to the crew.

"I – I just don't know what to do… I'm only thinking about what's best for them. Do they actually want to spend the rest of their lives continuing with this senseless voyage? We'll never make it back in time, anyway… ! What was it, 70 years? Even if we do live that long, are you honestly willing to spend the next 70 years of your life wandering aimlessly around an area of space we don't know very well, with only the hope of getting home!" she ranted, on the point of breaking down. She slumped and sighed deeply. "I honestly don't know what to do," she admitted.

Chakotay approached her and patted her back. He gave her a comforting smile.

"We'll get through this together, I promise."


End file.
